http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1212r63/cay-tre Cay Tre - London, 301 Old St, EC1V 9LA, United Kingdom en http://cdn.trustedplaces.com/i/uploads/placepics/96879_a904da88.140.jpg http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1212r63/cay-tre http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1212r63/cay-tre/1k7tw7
Review by Sami

Rating: 4.00
Tags: vietnamese, cheap eat, good value, crowded
There really isn't much to add as it's all been said before - great food at a great price. Go for the pho (large bowl, not a starter as it isn't as impressive) and the steak wraps which you cook yourself on a hotplate and then roll in rice paper wraps and garnish with lettuce, mint, fish sauce, and some other yummy things which I couldn't identify.

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Review by CristinaA

Rating: 3.00
Tags: vietnamese, good value
Always busy, a great place for dinner with friends or even a date.

At a snip of what you'd pay in the city.]]> Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:03:25 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1212r63/cay-tre/111qa81738417492 CristinaA vietnamese good value 51.526693 -0.081871 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1212r63/cay-tre/1m8kv7
Review by joslyoung

Rating: 4.00
Tags:
Judging by the number of reviews, Cay Tre is a hidden gem no longer. Basically, the Old Street area is awash in Vietnamese restaurants, of which Cay Tre is the best. Unfortunately, on recent visits, it's also been the busiest, particularly at the weekends (then again, Old St is usually best avoided at weekends anyway for any reason if you're not into crowds of braying meeja folk). The food is very good indeed although not ALWAYS exceptional - there are some duff notes in the menu, which I suggest you avoid by steering away from the more predictable items. The point is that they do have interesting things on the menu that you might not see elsewhere, particularly by way of fish, and you can get in and out and extremely well fed and watered for under £20 a head. You really can't say fairer than that.]]> Wed, 10 Sep 2008 18:31:04 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1212r63/cay-tre/1m8kv7582585330 joslyoung 51.526693 -0.081871 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1212r63/cay-tre/1q9jl7
Review by gunners4life

Rating: 4.00
Tags: crowded, good value, pretentious
I have been here a few times and even though there may be some critisicm I think that the restaurant is pretty good, I think that the food is a bit on the small side in portions but mayvbe that is just me. Probably ones of the worst things about this restaurant is the waiting time, food usually takes much less in other restuarants but rightly so they deserve to be a bit behind due to their popularity

Overall a very good restaurant if you can bare the waiting times and word of warning make sure that you call to reserve a seat before you go.]]> Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:06:18 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1212r63/cay-tre/1q9jl7992245304 gunners4life crowded good value pretentious 51.526693 -0.081871 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1212r63/cay-tre/1q3j97
Review by jes1uk

Rating: 5.00
Tags:
If you like Vietnamese food you are going to love this restaurant! It's a medium sized restaurant which has two floors and is located near to Old Street underground station. The decor is relatively plain but the food and the service is excellent. I'd highly recommend the Vietnamese pancake and the Pho. The only downside to this restaurant is that it can get very busy and so it may be an idea to book in advance if you're going to eat at peak times. The prices of the food at this restaurant are reasonable.
Overall I'd highly recommend this restaurant!
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Review by patheticshark

Rating: 4.00
Tags: lively, good value, vietnamese
There are a ton of Vietnamese restaurants around this area. I've tried most of them and Cay Tre's food does stand out as the best. The menu is a bit more diverse than the others and even the most basic dishes are done beautifully: roast duck noodles are really, really good; their summer rolls are fab. They also do stuff like catfish and lobster salad which are really tasty and pretty unusual to find in a restaurant in this price range - it's also really good value. Only problem is the queues, and the lack of ventilation - downstairs is a bit like being in a tiny version of a school canteen and upstairs it's a little distracting as you've got a queue of people going from inside the restaurant and out onto the street. Overall though, food's damn good and I'm looking forward to going back.]]> Sun, 31 Aug 2008 12:43:25 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1212r63/cay-tre/1s4fp8994931563 patheticshark lively good value vietnamese 51.526693 -0.081871 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1212r63/cay-tre/1j7aw7
Review by chrisp

Rating: 3.00
Tags: lively, good value, vietnamese
Ah, niche ethnic restaurants - don't you just love them? Vast, incomprehensible menus, grumpy staff, bizarre decor. Cây Tre has all this in spades, but warranted a visit from me due to some favourable reports in the right places, and even a recommendation from a friend who had raved about their soft-shelled crabs. Soft-shelled crab isn't something you see very often in this country, although it is quite popular abroad, particularly the States. Maybe the British just need a little more convincing that you really can eat the whole thing, shell and all. I admit even I was dubious the first time - it's a bit like drinking a cup of coffee and then eating the cup. Takes a bit of getting used to.

Look at this menu - it was actually double-sided and there were just as many dishes on the back as well. It's what Gordon Ramsay would call "terrifying", and although large menus seem to be the norm in most East Asian restaurants, this was even more frightening than most, especially when you started to read it closely - "Crab-Asparagus soup", "Wicked crispy Fog", "Sea snail with knotweed" jostled for attention on the laminated pages. In the end, we crossed our fingers and ordered the soft-shell crab, the scallops, some noodle dishes and the king prawn Summer Rolls.

First, the good. The summer roll was cold (I would have preferred it warm), but contained enjoyable texture contrasts (soft on the outside, crunchy in the middle) even if it was a little bland in flavour. The soft-shell crab was lovely, juicy and pretty to look at and matched well with a strong soy sauce. But things went rapidly downhill after that. The scallops were almost definitely not fresh and came in a horrible gloopy grey sauce that brought to mind cheap Chinese takeaway. Something called a Vietnamese Pizza looked impressive enough on the plate but was dripping with grease and actually pretty bland once the novelty factor wore off (which was almost immediately). There was another nondescript plate of fried veg, and a little tray of OK noodles, but nothing so interesting as to be worth lingering over. Even the prawn crackers were bog-standard.

After I'd stuffed my face with as much wobbly gluey scallops and fried noodles as I could keep down, I decided to admit defeat, with quite a bit left on each plate. So, the portions are generous, but what's the point if the food is a chore? Cây Tre, the odd "house speciality" aside, is little more than a mediocre high street Chinese and I'm baffled as to how it's won over so many admirers.]]> Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:11:58 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1212r63/cay-tre/1j7aw7496439994 chrisp lively good value vietnamese 51.526693 -0.081871 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1212r63/cay-tre/1109a9
Review by dafinki

Rating: 4.00
Tags: lively, good value, vietnamese
Have been to this place few times and hadn't been for a while, mainly because the times I'd gone I'd not found it to be up to much. However, took a group of ten people there last night and was very pleasantly surprised.

The interior had had a makeover, making the atmosphere much nicer than the minicab office-eque feel of it before. Staff were helpful and friendly, food was plentiful and fresh. My barbecue pork on cold rice vermicelli (Bun Cha) was delicious. Most of our party were Vietnamese and they said that although some of the spicing wasn't quite to the standard they experience at home it was pretty near, and rated it about 80%. Usually when we go to Vietnamese restaurants they hate the food, so I was impressed.

I'll definitely be back

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Review by wdowen

Rating: 4.00
Tags: lively, family & home feel, good value, vietnamese
Really good value for money, excellent food at the price (especially the belly pork that often appears on the specials board). Just steer clear of the Chinese stuff that doesn't really belong on a Vietnamese restaurant menu (peking duck, satay, prawn on french toast). Also good for takeaway and Sunday lunch. ]]> Mon, 10 Mar 2008 11:28:01 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1212r63/cay-tre/1j77e7507661169 wdowen lively family & home feel good value vietnamese 51.526693 -0.081871 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1212r63/cay-tre/1i87v7
Review by princessjasmine

Rating: 5.00
Tags: vietnamese, cheap eat, crowded
This restaurant has recently undergone a refurb - or rather a lick of paint, it's a very basic restaurant however if you eat here once, you will realise you have come across quite a treat. The food is amazing and fresh, very reasonable and most days if you go there at around 1pm you will have a little wait on your hands! I've heard they have queues in the evenings (think Busaba in London on a Thursday).]]> Sun, 09 Mar 2008 16:18:44 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1212r63/cay-tre/1i87v71026728412 princessjasmine vietnamese cheap eat crowded 51.526693 -0.081871 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1212r63/cay-tre/1j73v8
Review by gilka

Rating: 3.00
Tags: crowded, cheap eat
Update:
I don't like it as I used too...
I was there once with a friend for lunch and we waited for ages which was embarrassing... The food we ordered was average. I still like the crispy duck which is available for takeaway. The fish wrapped in banana leaf is very good but not everything in the menu is on the same level.
If you have time, I agree that on Kingsland road you will find better options.
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this place is so cheap and the food is good and fresh. Fantastic option if you are in old street. The staff is overworked so it will take time until you will get attention on the weekend. try the dishes which have smileys in the menu - they are the best!
gilka.co.uk]]> Sun, 15 Jul 2007 19:27:38 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1212r63/cay-tre/1j73v8921121029 gilka crowded cheap eat 51.526693 -0.081871 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1212r63/cay-tre/1b0328
Review by highburysi

Rating: 5.00
Tags:
top vietnamese place, looks cr*p from the outside but the queues are a give away. V cheap quality eats if you don't mind the noise and being in and out quickly]]> Thu, 28 Jun 2007 15:00:47 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1212r63/cay-tre/1b03282109468667 highburysi 51.526693 -0.081871 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1212r63/cay-tre/1h92k8
Review by mundek

Rating: 4.00
Tags: lively, fast cheap, kingsland road, pho, cheap eat, noodles, crowded, vietnamese
...but not as good as Song Que just up on Kingsland Road!

This is an excellent Vietnamese restaurant, but for me Song Que is better all round.

Cay Tre serve pho, noodles and other Vietnamese fare. The service is decent and fast but the ambience is lacking somewhat. Pretty cheap too.]]> Wed, 09 May 2007 13:08:30 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1212r63/cay-tre/1h92k81216965786 mundek lively fast cheap kingsland road pho cheap eat noodles crowded vietnamese 51.526693 -0.081871 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1212r63/cay-tre/1731z8
Review by webabla

Rating: 4.00
Tags:
Very good food, more of a canteen atmosphere though. It's my guilty pleasure to take away some noodle soup from here on a cold rainy day]]> Tue, 20 Feb 2007 13:28:54 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1212r63/cay-tre/1731z81477922476 webabla 51.526693 -0.081871 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1212r63/cay-tre/1d30y9
Review by chimney

Rating: 5.00
Tags: cheap, Kingsland, Pho, party, group, Shoreditch, City, delicious, London, Vietnamese
Modern Vietnamese dishes as what is hot in Vietnam, this restaurant is a really decent Vietnamese, comparing with many others in the neighbourhood. I love this restaurant and its sister acclaimed Viet Grill - The Vietnamese Kitchen in Kingsland Road]]> Sun, 01 Oct 2006 16:02:39 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1212r63/cay-tre/1d30y9717571764 chimney cheap Kingsland Pho party group Shoreditch City delicious London Vietnamese 51.526693 -0.081871